Hold My Hand (Hootie & the Blowfish song)

"Hold My Hand"
Single by Hootie & the Blowfish
from the album Cracked Rear View
B-side	"I Go Blind"
Released	July 18, 1994
Genre	Alternative rock [1] pop rock [2] [3] roots rock [4] [5]
Length	4:15
Label	Atlantic
Songwriter(s)	Mark Bryan Dean Felber Darius Rucker Jim Sonefeld
Producer(s)	Don Gehman
Hootie & the Blowfish singles chronology
"Hold My Hand" (1994) "Let Her Cry" (1994)
Music video
"Hold My Hand” on YouTube

"Hold My Hand" is the debut single of the American alternative rock band Hootie & the Blowfish from their first album, Cracked Rear View (1994). All four of the band members (Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, Darius Rucker and Jim Sonefeld) wrote the song sometime in 1989, and it was released on a self-titled cassette EP the year after. Released in July 1994 by Atlantic Records, "Hold My Hand" charted at number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song includes a backing vocal from David Crosby. ^[6]

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic said that the song "has a singalong chorus that epitomizes the band's good-times vibes." ^[7] Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "Don't give up, here's new hope. Only images of Brazilian footballers holding hands can equal the optimism and camaraderie reflected by this country rock song in a gospel spirit." ^[8]

Chart performance

"Hold My Hand" peaked at number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 ^[9] and number six on Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. ^[10] It ended the year at number 22 on the Billboard year-end chart for 1995. ^[11]

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Hold My Hand" was directed by American filmmaker and director of music videos, Adolfo Doring.^{[ citation needed ]}

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1994–1995) Peak position Australia (ARIA) [12] 70 Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [13] 36 European Hit Radio Top 40 (Music & Media) [14] 40 France Radio (SNEP) [15] 89 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [16] 37 Scotland (OCC) [17] 27 UK Singles (OCC) [18] 50 US Billboard Hot 100 [9] 10 US Adult Contemporary ( Billboard ) [10] 6 US Adult Pop Airplay ( Billboard ) [19] 25 US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [20] 4 US Pop Airplay ( Billboard ) [21] 2

Year-end charts Chart (1994) Position US Album Rock Tracks (Billboard) [22] 30 Chart (1995) Position Brazil (Crowley) [23] 92 US Billboard Hot 100 [11] 22 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard) [24] 9 US Top 40/Mainstream (Billboard) [25] 9

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
United States	July 18, 1994	Radio	Atlantic	[ citation needed ]
United Kingdom	February 13, 1995	CD cassette		[26]

References

1. Jacklin, Ben. "Hearing New Heights: Hootie and the Blowfish". Immersive Audio Album. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
2. Moore, Dan (July 13, 2012). "Toward a Taxonomy of '90s Pop Songs You Kind of Remember". The Riverfront Times . Retrieved August 26, 2015.
3. Harrington, Jim (June 30, 2019). "Hootie and the Blowfish are still proving hipsters wrong in 2019". The Mercury News. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
4. Caramanica, Jon (June 6, 2019). "Hootie & the Blowfish, Great American Rock Band (Yes, Really)". The New York Times. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
5. Wood, Mikael (November 5, 2019). "Review: Hootie & the Blowfish were pretty good after all". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
6. Cracked Rear View (CD insert). Hootie & the Blowfish. Atlantic Records. 1994. 82613.
7. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Cracked Rear View review". AllMusic . Retrieved November 14, 2010.
8. "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music & Media . Vol. 11, no. 46. November 12, 1994. p. 16. Retrieved June 5, 2025.
9. "Hootie the Blowfish Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 17, 2010.
10. "Hootie the Blowfish Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved November 17, 2010.
11. "Billboard Top 100 – 1995". Billboardtop100of.com. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
12. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 26 Feb 1995". ARIA . Retrieved December 13, 2016– via Imgur.
13. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2620." RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
14. "EHR Top 40 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 13, no. 24. March 25, 1995. p. 12. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
15. "Top Radio Singles May 7, 1995". SNEP. May 7, 1995. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
16. "Hootie & the Blowfish – Hold My Hand". Top 40 Singles.
17. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
18. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
19. "Hootie the Blowfish Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
20. "Hootie the Blowfish Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
21. "Hootie the Blowfish Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
22. "The Year in Music: Hot Album Rock Tracks". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 52. December 24, 1995. p. YE-62.
23. "Brazilian Top 100 Year-End 1995". Crowley Broadcast Analysis. April 3, 2018. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
24. "The Year in Music: Hot Adult Contemporary Singles & Tracks" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 107, no. 51. December 23, 1995. p. YE-80. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 28, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
25. "The Year in Music 1995: Top 40/Mainstream Top Titles". Airplay Monitor . Vol. 3, no. 51. December 15, 1995. p. 8.
26. "New Releases: Singles". Music Week . February 11, 1995. p. 27.